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Michael Meurer: Those crazy neocons!
Submitted by Howard2 on Thursday, November 11, 2004 - 16:32
Those crazy neocons! They are just irrepresible. Last week, the giddy crew of pundits at William F. Buckley's National Review declared ­ between their ritual bashing of the "Michael Moore/Howard Dean/Al Franken extremist fringe" and their calls for the Patriot Act to be made permanent ­ that Bush now has a mandate to fight and win what they call "World War IV." They casually note that we should expect military actions and "regime change" against both Iran and North Korea in W's second term, with stepped up military pressure on China. The same is planned for Cuba. The Bush administration has funneled $59 million in federal money to a White House "Commission For Assistance to a Free Cuba" that is working to topple Castro. In the lead up to this election, friends of the Commission were running around south Florida handing out "Iraq today, Cuba tomorrow" bumper stickers, and the Commission is actively drawing up plans for Castro's overthrow during W's second term. While I will admit there is a certain comic exuberance at work in the excited prattling and planning of these chirpy neocons, there is also the grim reality that their overlords in the White House are now armed not only with another four years, but with a freshly minted pre-emptive first strike military doctrine. Additionally, the administration's Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) of January 2002 has taken this doctrine to a dangerous new level by authorizing first use of "tactical" nuclear weapons. There was shock the world over in 2002 when details of the NPR were leaked to the press. The Review explicitly called for the development of tactical nuclear weapons for first strike use and included a list of target countries that included China, N. Korea and Iran. Democratic Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island captured the prevailing view when he said, "We have tried for 50-plus years to make these weapons unthinkable, and now we're talking about giving them a tactical application. It's a dangerous departure." The NPR is given extra punch by a crash development and testing program for tactical nuclear weapons (euphemistically referred to in the NPR as "low-yield, precision-guided nuclear weapons") including nuclear bunker buster bombs. At the Bush administration's urging, this crash development program was approved by both the House and Senate in early 2003. The administration insisted the program was essential for the full implementation of the NPR's recommendations. The legislation authorizing the program also mandated that the normal 24 to 36 month development time be compressed to 18 months, meaning tactical nukes could be ready for production in early 2005. In practical terms, this means that Bush could have new tactical nuclear weapons available for use midway through his second term. Make no mistake, Bush and Cheney would not hesitate for one moment to use these weapons, either in Iran or N. Korea, possibly even in Iraq or Afghanistan. At a minimum, they are itching to test them under actual field conditions. During the 2004 Presidential campaign, John Kerry explicitly called attention to this tactical nuclear weapons development program. His exact words were: "I¹m going to shut that program down, and we¹re going to make it clear to the world we¹re serious about containing nuclear proliferation." Now that he is essentially freed from any political constraints, one would hope that Senator Kerry will become George W. Bush's nemesis on this issue and lead the opposition during the remainder of his term. He could not find a more important job as he returns to the Senate. Michael Meurer Los Angeles CA
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